European patent application EP 0 498 515 describes a process for the production of chocolate. The application discloses that with the use of erythritol or maltitol as sweeteners the conching step used in the production of chocolates is carried out in the form of a dry conching step moreover, this step can be carried out at temperatures well above the normal temperature of 65.degree. C. and suitably for a period of 6 to 16 hours. It is disclosed that the dry conching step can be used with both erythritol and maltitol.
The use of erythritol or maltitol as the sweetener instead of sucrose in the chocolate results in a product of similar appearance and organoleptic properties to an equivalent sucrose based chocolate. It is further shown in the application that the amount of cocoa butter can be reduced by 2 to 15% by weight there is therefore a considerable reduction in the amount of fat (calories).
When erythritol is used as a sweetener the calorie reduction achieved in comparison with sucrose standard is from about 28% to about 33% depending on the fat content (see Example I hereafter). In order for a product to be called `light` the minimal calorie reduction should be 30%.
When a product with the required amount of erythritol to be called light was obtained it turned out that the chocolate had a strong `cooling effect` due to the negative heat of solution of erythritol which is -23.3 kcal/kg.
The Japanese patent publication JP-A-02 104243 also discloses this cool mouthfeel from chocolates which is described as a desirable characteristic.
European patent application EP 0 511 761 describes the use of different combinations of sugar alcohols for the preparation of instant pie fillings and bakery creams.
The patent abstract JP-A-01 312960 mentions the use of different combinations of sugar alcohols in the preparation of kneaded powder cake.
EP 0 303 295 discloses the use of erythritol as a basis for preparing hard candies. It was found that the use of erythritol gives rise to brittle and easily breakable candies. The combination of erythritol and saccharides selected from sugars and sugar alcohols other than erythritol solves this problem.
EP 0 287 957 relates to the use of a combination of an intense sweetener and erythritol in food applications.
EP 0 512 910 relates to the reduction of the amount of fatty material in chocolates. Levels as low as 32% fat are claimed.
Some of the references cited above do not relate to chocolate compositions. The references relating to chocolates do not mention or solve the `cooling effect` problem.
As mentioned before when erythritol is used as a sweetener the calorie reduction achieved in comparison with sucrose standard is from about 28% to about 33% depending on the fat content (see Example 1 hereafter). In order for a product to be called `light` the minimal calorie reduction should be 30% when such a reduction is obtained the product has a cool mouthfeel.
When maltitol is used the chocolate obtained has a good mouthfeel however the calorie reduction is only 13%. (Based on 0.4 kcal/g for erythritol and 2.4 kca/g for maltitol).